Monday, December 31, 2012

So quickly the old year hath passed away, so quickly the new approaches.

I can't believe that today is the last day of 2012. A lot has happened this year, good and bad. I've lost a couple of family members this year, including my older dog. I got a job, and wrote the first draft of a novel. I got the lead in next May's ballet recital. Too much has happened to summarize.

So i won't. Just catch you up on what has happened recently. One thing that happened was that i got sorted for the next term in the HPKCHC group on Ravelry. I'm in Hufflepuff!! It's cool, I did want to take a look at the other houses, but boy am I surprised.

I cannot wait for tomorrow, because then i can start to knit for classes!!!!!

I'm going to a party tonight to celebrate New Years. We're leaving in a few hours, so I better finish doing my chores. i hope your year was as good as mine, and love and light in the year ahead!!!

Monday, December 24, 2012

And indeed it is. It's Christmas Eve (as you should well know!) and snow
is on the ground, though it's not snowing at the moment here.

Christmas songs are playing on the radio, and our animals are wandering in and out

This is Buster, our doggy.

Except for our new dog Thunder, who is currently missing. My dad and my brother both just got home after tracking him. He hadn't been able to run for a while, and we left him alone outside of the pen, and he went and had fun in the forest,and got all mixed up. Now we figure he's going back to his childhood home, because he can find that better then our home, where he's only been for a few weeks.

We also have two cats, the older of which hasn't left my bed, and the younger of which is currently outside I think.

My sister and my mom have been baking.... They are making pecan pie, which we didn't have for Thanksgiving, which I sorely missed, and so am glad that we are getting for Christmas.

Our tree has a ton of presents under it. My brother has been trying to convince us to let hi open one present today....his friends family does that, but we don't. The suspense is horrible, but it's so much more special to open it in the morning, surrounded by wrapping paper and family.

The tree is really beautiful. You should see it all lit up. Maybe I'll take a picture tonight and post it soon.

I'm wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Welcome to the Fifth age (We survived the apocalypse and the zombies!! :P) and the coming years are full of potential. I look forward to it :D

Sunday, December 9, 2012

My dad turned 58 today. We lit that many candles, though i remember all of us saying that we would no longer do that after 54. I got to carry it to the table, and nearly burned my bangs off my face as the result. Still, it was fun, and i got to go stand outside in the (small, miniscule) snow that was falling, so that the wax could cool down and we could actually eat the cake.

there was a lot of wax. but it looked really nice actually.

Then we got to take off the wax, and eat the cake, which has pretty much became the birthday cake, as my entire family are chocolate junkies, and we never pass up a good chocolate cake.

My dad, is an amazing person. He's done a lot in his life, and he's still setting good examples for me and my siblings. He's a joker, but he can also be serious. He's smart, and fair. He knows how engines work and does sound for bands. Really, words cannot describe him. Everything I write, sounds weird and almost false. I guess the best thing i can say is that he is my father, and i wouldn't trade him for the universe.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Hello! Okay, so for starters, this post is long overdo, as in, I meant to have this posted a week ago. Also, just so you know, I'm also writing this a few days before its posted. I really want to write this post well, and considering it's going to be a long one, and with everything else that I neglected during November (i.e., my schoolwork, my job, the story I'm co-writing with a friend, and ForeverFandom), I think it's going to be a couple of days before I'm done. But that's okay, because its still me posting, and that's what's important.
So, to start things off, the day after NaNo ended, I slept until 3 o'clock. Yep, three in the afternoon. Now, even I'm not sure why I slept so long. My moms theory is that I was just exhausted from writing all month, and the relief of finally being done just let me sleep till then. Of course, no adult was home all day either, and I guess me repeatedly telling people not to wake me up scared off my siblings, because they could easily have woken me up. If my mom had been home, she probably would have woken me up by noon at least.

I've started knitting again as well. There is no feeling like not knitting for a month and then being able to do it again. Right now I'm working on Leaf Ella Collar, and it's really lovely.

It's supposed to be white, but I'm using grey instead. I'm not sure if I'll have enough of it to finish however, but if that's the case, I already have ideas of blending from the light grey slowly to black for the edging. I think I might end up doing that anyway, it sounds so cool.
Also, look at the nice surprise there was on the Free Magazine table at my library on Monday. About fifteen knitting magazines, like new. There was even a February 2013 Knit N' Style there!! There was a lot of Vogue Knitting, and a few Interweave Knits (I love the little stories at the back of every issue).

I took most of them home, though a mom in my homeschool group also took some home, mostly ones that I already had, and only at my insistence! She's so very nice, she wanted me to take all of them home myself!
I've had a lot of fun going through them, and there are so many things I want to knit now! I wasn't going to knit stuff for people this year, but if I can fit some of these patterns to some people.... We'll see.
I have also been crafting just generally (I'm telling myself that's why my room currently looks likes someone staged a protest there and things got out of hand. Searching for stuff and not putting anything back). I finished stuff for this Dobby a Very Harry Christmas swap, that the Reducio group on Ravelry is holding.
Also, I've made some paper roses! Aren't they gorgeous? I found the tutorial online, and though it looks hard, it's actually super quick and easy.

There will be a post coming up with everything I made lately, including links to where I found them. I'm going craft crazy this month! Well, until then....

Saturday, December 1, 2012

guess what?

I won.

Not in the way you are thinking. I didn't reach 50k words this November. I wrote 35,111 words instead. But I did write "The End". And for me, that's what matters.

I wrote a novel.

I did something that no one else can do. Sure, there were 300k writers writing alongside me, but I wrote my own story. My unique story. Sure, the plot's a mess; I need to figure out exactly what the end goal is, but I did it. It has been exhausting and stressful, but it's made me see how good writing every day is. I've got a lot coming soon as well. Stories that I've been working on with other people and I have completely and without guilt neglected these past 30 days. I also need to start updating this blog more.

I can definitely guarantee that I will be doing this again next year.

GAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! It's really how I'm feeling right now. So excited, but also relieved, and now I'm going to go read a book.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

(NOTE: I wrote this several days ago, never posted it, the shawl is done but no pictures, and I'll post again soon)

"My grandma is very old, and she doesn't remember things a lot, but she bakes the

most delicious cookies. When I was very little, we had my mom's mom, who always had

candy, and my dad's mom, who always had cookies. My mom told me that when I was

little, I called them "Candy Grandma" and "Cookies Grandma". I also called pizza

crust "pizza bones". I don't know why I'm telling you this." - The Perks Of Being A

Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The above quote is taken from The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, a book that I am really enjoying right now. Right now I'm still reading it, but by the time this is posted I will have long finished it. Maybe I'll put in a post script or something.

So. You guys are probably wondering how I'm doing with NaNoWriMo. May I just say AUGGHHHHHHHH! It is honestly exhausting. I haven't been this tired at the ends of days in a while. I'm not too far behind, so that's good. I don't know how far exactly, because I am behind on transferring my novel from my notebookto my computer. I've caught up a bit, but I still have a few pages to go. I'm not worried. I know that I am capable of writing the 50,000 words, and though some of you might be thinking that's a bit over confident for a first year Wrimo, I know that if I apply myself like I have been for the entire month, it will be easy.

Right now I'm just stuck on the scene where my MC (main character for those unfamiliar to the lingo) meets my worlds gods....Oh boy.

In knitting news I've knitted seven hats for the 1000 for Argentina group on Ravelry (check them out here if you make hats (they don't have to be knitted! Just warm!))

I haven't made anything else. (Like I said, NaNo has been whipping my butt this first week) but I'm hoping to get more done. Actually, I did start this scarf/wrap/shawlnotreally for my job, and I just need to wind some more of its yarn before getting back to it.

So that's it. Not a lot going on in my life right now. I mean, sure, my best friend invited me to go see the Hobbit when it comes out in theaters for his birthday, I am extremely Doctor Who starved at the moment ("Alonsy!") and I started to learn the choreography for Mary Poppins (I'm very excited that I get the umbrella!!), I can't find my upload card for my camera, which means my photos are trapped until I find it. Oh, and my other best friend called me for the first time in months (like, SHE called, of her own volition, not returning a call or anything (not that she does that anyway) but ACTUALLY called me (not that I'm bitter or anything).)

Not that anyone would call that stuff news or anything.

It's twelve o'one am. The witching hour is upon us. (Or me anyway, who knows what time you are reading this).

Friday, November 2, 2012

Ok, I admit it: I've considered dumping this blog. I've thought, "I really don't want to write anything, I really just don't want to bother." Than I remember: who wanted this sooo badly? Who enjoys posting? Who loves the thought of sharing their writing and knitting and whatever appears out of the TARDIS with people? (Also, who though of THAT?). The a answer is ME. I did all that. And even though it'd be easier to just ditch you, I can't. I can't leave my faithful viewers! (Of which there may be two). So I just put it down to being a teenager and lazy, and also possibly because I'm going to be writing a TON this month, as I'm doing NaNoWriMo.
First day word count: 2,979!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(can you tell how excited I am?) Anyway, on to what this post was going to be about (other then NaNo).I've been doing this thing this summer that I call "Potter Sitings!" Where if I see anything to do with Harry Potter (especially the books, movies, or audio books) I'll snap a picture. I'd like to do it every month, or maybe every two months. Maybe I could have people send in their own Potter Sitings and I'll include those sometime! Let me know what YOU (yes, YOU) think in the comments. So, to start it off, my most recent siting in my libraries book store.

Then for in a book store in Alabama this summer

And the audio tapes in my local bookstore

ok, i've ran out of time to make this post, I need to get back to writing!!! See you guys soon!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

So I've got a lot of finished objects for you. I finished all my hats for my Quidditch class in the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup group on Ravelry, which was to make 5-10 things the same. So, you could do toys, gloves, really anything, as long as they were the same type of thing, though they didn't need to be made from the same pattern.

I managed to make ten hats, which means 150 points to Ravenclaw! This term I've really been trying to get as many points as possible, and it's been a lot of fun, if a little nerve-wracking.

Hats are easy an quick, and I've discovered that I really like to knit hats flat, as apposed to in the round, which is just as good, but for some reason knitting them flat was great these past weeks.

I'm going to be donating about four of the ten hats to charity. I would do more, but two of them are tams for my job, and the other four are mini witch hats!

I personally love these mini hats, though that fact that I only got one cat to model one hat is very sad....Still, a lot of fun, and if you pin the red and the green on your head, it looks like horns, which I think is brilliant!

I've also made a TARDIS iPod cozy, for my brand new iPod Touch. I'll be completely honest and say that as soon as I finished it, I was more impatient for the iPod to get here, not so I could use the iPod, but so I could use the cozy! It's the first of many TARDIS's, and sure enough, number two (and three!) have already appeared.

Double-knit TARDIS earrings! I've always loved weird big earrings, as shown by my Radish earrings, and I really wanted to make these. I'm turning them in for Potions in the HPKCHC, as the subject is Skelegrow, and one of the options was to make something with a technique that is considered painful/hard, with double-knitting was listed among the examples. I seriously love them!

I also made some masks. The blue one is for Muggle Studies, as we are studying dogs as Muggle companions, and the only colors a dog can see is yellow and blue, so a yellow and blue mask.

The second is for History of Magic, and we are studying the Fey. I can't remember the exact prompt, but it basically, show your ability to recognize them, and Halloween/costumes would work.

I've also knit up a few black ghosts. I swear, black acrylic yarn is the most useful thing in the world. Every time I get it I use it up in a few days. It's the only thing that I feel must be in my stash at all times. I'm turning the big ghost in for Charms, which was all about camouflage, so the ghost disguises my teddy bear at the moment. The little one is I think going to my neighbor, who recently started chemo treatments, so my family is leaving her and her husband some Halloween treats, because they won't be home on Halloween this year.

Whew! That was long! Hope you stayed with me the entire time. I think we're pretty caught up. I'm going as Snape for Halloween, and currently my costume looks like this

Though I'm trying not to freak out too much. Oh, and NaNoWriMo is starting in 4 days....Yeah, freaking out about that. Very much freaking out about that. I have several deadlines coming up in relation to writing and homework and my job, which I all need to get done before NaNo. I'm breaking my habit on nail-biting, which means that I haven't bitten my nails in 10 days...yeah, good for me, yadda yadda yadda, but now I need to figure out a different way to release stress......

Friday, October 19, 2012

Sorry I've been gone so long.... The past week has been one of recovery from the wool
fest, and yet my room still isn't clean, I have not even started a project for my
job, (I knit for a local yarn store) and though I have several people signed up for
sponsoring me for NaNoWriMo, only two of them are on the actual sign up sheet.
It's been nearly two weeks from the wool festival though, you say. I am trying to
ignore that fact.

My To Do list today:
Get sawdust (I hate chores)
SOAK BEANS!!! (I have to cook dinner tonight. Again, HATE)
Book list needs updating ( I keep a list of all the books I've read.... I'm going to
see how I do this year, then try and beat it next year...)

I also wanted to get outside, I need to start a project for my job, pay my mom back,
clean my room, and remember to post this....
And I got an iPod Touch, so naturally I am addicted for that, and I want to put more
music on it....that's what I'm writing this blog post on....

Ok, time to get out of bed, stop procrastinating, and start on that To Do list.....

(PS- I named my iPod LINDA - London Investigators 'N' Detective Agency. I've never
named my electronics before, and I think this is a great first name. If you don't get
that reference, then stop reading my blog and go and watch Doctor Who, you poor
deprived person!!!!!!!!!)

Saturday, October 13, 2012

That is me, my sister, and Abbey in our booth. I'm the one wearing the mini top hat (Abbey makes them), my sister is wearing the kitty hat (she is recently obsessed with them) and then Abbey is wearing the hand-knit top hat with the flower on it.

This is my dad wearing the kitty hat...from a distance he looked quite crazy

There were people with dogs

People shopping for yarn...

There in the background is my booth....you can see my mom's yarn

Looooong lines around lunch time

(in the far left you can see my sister sitting on a chair, waiting to get lunch for people in our booth)

The Wine Fairy dress... it looks rather flat here, but it's amazing in real life

Here are some of the stuff we were selling...most of that is Abbey's, though you can see my radish earrings in the middle there.

Some of Abbey's fascinators.....

And I got a picture with this guy who was wearing a "Chicken Butt Hat". Brilliant!

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. It's always my favorite time of year, autumn. With the leaves changing, and the wool festival, it's the only time of year I spend a lot of time outside. What about you? What's your favorite season, and why?

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

I never fell asleep last night. I read for a while, and then I got back into The Right To Write, because with getting everything ready for the Wool Festival, I had slacked off on the writing exercises (some of which I haven't finished yet -- who knew writing down 100 things you are proud of could be so hard?)

I literally wrote all night. I started to work on my computer, on the stories that are on here, at around 2 or 3. I wrote up my sponsor sign-up sheet for NaNoWriMo (I'm raising money for my local library), and I worked on two other stories. One, which is looking like it is going to be multi-chaptered (oh, did I mention that they both are Harry Potter fanfic?) is about Harry's daughter (SPOILER) Lily Luna. Do you know how HARD it is to write a Sorting Hat song? I'm still not happy with that scene....

The other one is about Luna Lovegood, and Voldemort. It's a very dark story, (like, I get chills when I'm writing it, and I don't want to leave my room at night). I got the idea from the Almost Totally Random Pairing Generator: Version Dark Harry Potter (which I TOTALLY recommend for all HP fanfics).

Lord Voldemort/Luna Lovegood/bloody dagger

Is what I got, and what I had been doing was that any story idea that I really liked I would copy down, along with a short sorta summery for what the story would be so that I could remember it later. I got:

Her hair was fanned out behind her head, where
she had fallen. It was streaked with blood. Blood so red in contrast to her
white hair.

Morbid, right? It gets better. (As in, more morbid.) I am not going to put the plot up here, as I'm going to publish it on FanFiction.Net soon (I am DreamingDragon37).

I really think it's one of the best things I've ever written, as far as writing quality. I was so excited when I finished at 6 a.m. this morning, I couldn't stop smiling.

Today, I do not feel tired at all. I remember, at around 4:30 a.m. I looked at the clock, and and thought to myself, "You know, if I go to sleep now I will sleep all day and get nothing done. I'll just continue writing, try and finish this up."

And so I finished. I feel so happy right now, and I have around five sponsers for NaNoWriMo. Everything is coming together (not that you can tell from my room --still, hurricane swept. In fact, it got worse).

No, it doesn't. It is quite clearly the wrong color. Now how did this occur?

It is a dark night. I have a pattern that I wanted to make. I start it, and like it much more than I thought I would. I watch a movie while I knit it. I finish it, and pull it on. I can't wait for tomorrow, when I can make the next one.

Fast forward to the next day. I stayed up way too late, was woken up because I had to watch my brother while everyone else in my family went to start setting up the wool festival that happened last weekend (I'll post about that when I've sorted through the photos). So groggy me got up and decided to start the other mitt, only to spend ten minutes searching for the yarn, that has mysteriously disappeared overnight. I finally find it, and start. I knit on it all day, slowly and lazily working my way through the cuff, and starting to work on the cable section. After dinner: I am in my room, watching another movie. I lay the current mitt against the mitt that is already finished, to see if they are the same size (sometimes my gauge will change when I knit a pair of things, and it really really really annoys me for some reason if one is slightly smaller then the other).

Nonononononononono!!!!! I need these tomorrow! I have to get up at 5:30 to go set up my mom's booth for the Wool Festival!!! It will be cold!!!! NOOOOOO!

OK, so maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration. But not by much. Long story short, I decide to rip it out and start over on it, this time with the right yarn, and super knit to get it done. I did it! I had the mitts for the freezing morning, where they did nothing for my fingers but kept my hands warm, and I looked great with my Quidditch Mitts.

I am trying to ignore the fact that the second one is slightly smaller then the first one.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Dear readers.

I hope you aren't expecting a long and insightful post today, because I really just am not going to write one. I wish I had time to post a picture of this beautiful flower siting next to me at the moment. I don't.
I wish that I'd taken pictures of my recent knitting projects. I haven't.
I also wish I could tell you that I have posted a new story on FanFiction.Net. I haven't.

So what is the point of this post, you ask? You tell me. What do you think is the point of this post? Is it a bored teenager being very very very lazy? Is it a writer who should be writing but is instead lazing around? Is it a knitter who instead of writing or paying attention to the rest of the world is knitting?

I know that this was supposed to be a knitting blog, but as we haven't seen any knitting yet.....Don't worry, the local Wool Festival is starting tomorrow, and there will be plenty of pictures and more to show you. This is my favorite time of year, with the leaves changing, and that crisp in the air.

Well, I'll leave you now, and go watch a movie and work on that knitting that I may or may not be knitting.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

I've been writing a lot lately.

Not on my stories -- what I should be writing. No, I've been doing the writing exercises in this book I got at my library. It's been a lot of fun so far, which surprises me a bit, because usually I don't really enjoy any of the exercises in writing books.

This one is different though. It's written in a way that is very similar to the Young Adult books that I read constantly. Friendly, fast paced, not boring in the slightest.
It is written with chapters placed like "invitation, initiation", as it says in the contents. It has a essay, and then a little writing exercise using something that was discussed in the essay. And the essays don't read like essays. I read them, and it doesn't seem like I'm reading something that's supposed to be instructional. It reads like a story.

Also, the author lives near where I do, more or less. I would love to meet her sometime, she is such a amazing writer.